Chapters "We're having a field trip today?" Curiosity asked.
Her teacher frowned. "YES... I reminded the class everyday that we were going somewhere special for the last two weeks. I assume you have your permission slip?"
It was painfully obvious that she brought nothing to class, but Curiosity still stalled in her answer.
"What are we talking about?" She said in a pitiful effort to throw her teacher off.
The class began snickering and chattering.
The teacher sighed. "I'll call your mother and tell her to pick you up."
Curie sighed, her forgetfulness would be the death of her. At this point, it was an inside joke for the school staff.
"Ms. Perky, I have Curiosity's slip right here!"
A male griffin waved a sheet of paper in the air. "She left it at my house yesterday."
The teacher grabbed the paper from the griffin's claw, glanced at the signature, and was finally contented.
"Sit down..." she told Curiosity.
She bolted over to the seat by her friend.
"Thanks for covering me, Spriggan." she whispered to him.
"Just feel lucky I know your mom's signature at heart." A fact that would bother most, but a handy one with Curiosity.
A trio of female griffin's snickered. "Ooo, the dodo's boyfriend comes to the rescue again." the one in the center chuckled.
Curiosity balled her claw into a fist. "Oi, Camille, didn't I tell you not to call me that?"
Two of the griffin's cowered, but the center one didn't stand down. "I'm not scared of you," she said confidently.
"Yes, you are!" the left cub squeaked. Camille smacked her claw against her face.
"Girls, shush!" the teacher spat.
The classroom crawled onto a train.
Curiosity climbed into the booth beside Spriggan.
"Where are we even going?"
"The train's going to the old Camelot ruins."
"Camelot? What in tartarus is Camelot?"
"Maybe you'd know if you paid more attention in class."
"Yeah, well, I don't."
Spriggan groaned. "How are we friends?"
"We have a dynamic! You're the brainy one, I'm the strong one."
"We've all seen your performance in flying class, I don't think "strong" is the right word."
"I'm the tough one, then..."
Sprig shook his head. "You don't give yourself enough credit." he softly punched her arm. "You may not pay any attention in class. And true, you can't tell the differences between the "tos"or "theres", but you're pretty smart. You're great at math, and you probably have the best sense of direction out of any griffon on the planet. "
"Thanks, the ability to solve equations is WAY better than speaking correct Griffish."
"All I'm saying is that you're better than you think. Even if what you don't know makes me wonder what our "dynamic" is."
After five minutes of "I Spy", Curiosity was so painfully bored that she fell asleep.
She awoke to the excited cries of the cubs, each cramming against their windows to fetch a glimpse of the ruined city.
"You gotta check this out! It's amazing!" Spriggan squeaked.
He moved aside to allow his friend to look out the window.
Out the window was the grave of a city hanging off a mountain. Curiosity could only imagine the city in its prime, but now it was a broken hobble of collapsed towers and cracked walls. It wasn't amazing, it was desolate and hopeless.
But, there was something else...
From her birth, Curiosity had experienced odd twists and tingles when she was near strange artifacts at the museum. Artifacts often claimed to hold "magical" properties. Magic wasn't real, every griffon knew that. It was stupid to think otherwise.
The thing to these ruins was that the sensations Curiosity felt were wild and erratic. The closer the train got to the city, the more these sensations grew.
Curiosity didn't know if she wanted to go back, or to keep going.
At last, the train docked, and a flood of loud and chatty cubs spilled from the doors. Amassed altogether, the sounds from the children were not unlike a jet airplane. However, these calls were soon drowned out and silenced by the teacher and chaperones.
Curiosity, however, was reluctant in stepping off the car. When she finally forced herself onto the ground, jolts of sensations worse than pins and needles flooded through. She yipped and grit her teeth, until they at last faded.
The rascally children were eventually corralled into four groups of five.
Curiosity felt lucky, she wasn't paired with the teacher. It would make it easier to sneak off if the mood struck her. (which it often did)
As the class treaded down rubbly streets, they were excited, despite having to listen to Ms. Perky's lectures on like made-up history and how to preserve it.
Despite her name, Curiosity felt as though she were undergoing horrific tortures. This feeling was increased by the ever-present sun. It may hang there all day and night, but it felt remarkably hotter here.
However, the sight of the largest structure she had ever seen immediately piqued her interest.
"Can we go in there?" She asked the chaperone.
"I don't think so. That building is unstable, you might fall through a floor, or the place might collapse because of the weight."
Curiosity groaned.
It was only an hour or so when the party stopped for lunches. Which, our little heroine neglected to bring.
Curiosity was no vegan. Eggs, cheese, milk, it all disappeared down the bottomless pit of a cub.
But meat, it may as well have been rotten...rot.
She saw meat as the animals they once were. And oddly enough, it sickened her.
Still, she'd need something to sustain her on the off-chance she got lost. Sneaking behind Camille, Curiosity grabbed her lunchbag and took off.
Her immediate course was the magnificent castle.
Only to find that the inside was far more lavish than the outside.
A long, red rug greeted her with its worn but soft feeling. The rug led to a giant throne for something far bigger than a griffon.
The walls of the palace were adorned with pictures of oddly shaped creatures dancing and playing. Bannisters of the sun and an unfamiliar crescent-shape seemed like a center-piece of the room.
Curiosity wandered forward in awe, not noticing the floor was creaking under weight. After while, she was snapped into focus when a large crack formed in the floor.
The cub froze, unsure of what to do. The crack grew, and she knew she'd need to make a run for the entrance.
Sadly, she was too slow in acting, and the floor collapsed below her.
Though Curiosity buzzed her wings with every bit of might she had in her, she plummeted like a rock.
She landed with an THUD! But was relatively unharmed. Griffons were durable creatures.
But now Curiosity was trapped, possibly forever, in the dark. On top of that, her sensations had never been stronger. And the more she fought these tingles, the more they hurt her.
In fact, she landed directly in one of the castle's dungeon cells.
It took only a few minutes to understand she wasn't alone.
With only shafts of light emanating from the ceiling, Curiosity could only barely make out a dark shape, far larger than her and chained to the ground.
She assumed it was dead, but when it began writhing and grunting, she gasped and ran to slide through the cell bars.
Wait!
The voice was feminine, but one could hardly call it a voice. It was more of a thought forcefully etched into Curiosity's mind.
Such a thing may have made many others run for their lives, but Curiosity found the virtue she was named for taking over.
Please don't leave me...
The voice was so quiveringly pathetic, filled with years of crushed hopefulness.
Curiosity's eyes had adjusted a little, enough to see the chains were sparkling with cleanliness. How they hadn't rusted at this point in time, she didn't understand.
Then again, how could this creature be alive?
Free me
The cub took another look at the chains. "I'm not strong enough to..."
Free my mouth
I want to speak
I want to breathe
Gazing at what she assumed was the being's head, she noticed a bulbous material where her mouth should be. Even with no understanding of this creature's physiology, she had a feeling it shouldn't be there.
The thing was grimy and worn, likely very old. By the time she removed it, she could hardly tell the thing was once a gag.
The creature opened her jaw and shut it several times.
"Drink?" she asked, her voice so gravelly from disuse and thirst that one wouldn't be able to differentiate it from male and female.
Curiosity rummaged through "her" lunchbag, finally producing a bottle of ice cold milk.
"I-It's probably imported. I warn you most imported things don't taste that good."
The being made a sound vaguely like laughter, but it was interrupted by a harsh coughing fit.
The cub uncapped the bottle. "I-I'm trusting y-you not to something b-bad."
Like the being could do any harm in her position.
Holding the bottle in the creature's muzzle, the being drank it gratefully.
"There is no way I can thank you," she said, her voice still weak, but smoother.
"Who are you?" Curiosity asked, "What are you?"
"My name is Celestia."
"I am a pony."
Author's Note
Went a little fast, I know. The next chapters will be slower.
The mare broke into another coughing fit.
"A pony?" Curiosity said inquisitively.
Upon realizing just how dark the cell was, the figure saddened. "You cannot see what I look like..."
The cub cautiously walked over to the mare, she felt her beauty underneath the grime that must've covered her.
She lifted her claw to the neck of the creature, stroking her. She felt her scars and gashes, but she was surprisingly soft. Curiosity relaxed, and the sensations transformed from a painful tingle to a warm sensation.
The cub realized this was probably the first kind touch, the first bits of mercy she had felt in a long time. A protrusion emanating from the top of her head suddenly lit up like a Hearth's Warming Eve tree.
Curiosity nearly vomited.
The mare was chained to the ground, she knew that already, but to actually see it was sickening. The chains bent her long, graceful legs into hideous shapes, cutting deep into her flesh and rubbing them raw. A formerly beautiful set of wings was almost entirely robbed of its feathers, the chains prying them in different directions, until they were stained dark red with blood. A long, originally colorful mane and tail were greasier than fried food, and so grimy there was almost no color shining through.
Besides that, scratches and violet bruises covered her filthy, grey coat.
Her eyes were the only brightness this creature, this "Celestia", had. They shined with a hopefulness that had been lost a long time.
She smiled, tearing up at the light her horn gave her. "Tell me, little one. When...er...if I ever get out, will I still be pretty?"
Curiosity continued to stare at the broken figure. "Whoever did this is long dead, and I'm glad."
Celestia weakly laughed. "You could've sugarcoated it a little." her smile faded.
There was a long, lonely silence.
"How are you doing that...light thing?" the cub asked, if only to break the silence.
The mare basked in her own light.
"A spell. Its been so long since I could cast one. These chains are enchanted."
Spell? Enchanted?
"B-but that's magic."
"Yes, I suppose it is..."
"But, magic isn't even real. Everyone knows that."
Celestia snickered again. "Not nonexistent, forgotten. Forgotten and lost."
"So, th-that light really is...magic?"
"Yes. I never thought...I'd ever...cast a spell again. These chains were so effective, they even dulled my levitation spells. With time, left alone to rot, I eventually couldn't even use my weakest spells to dull my hunger, to light my cell."
Curiosity's jaw fell. She leaned against the cell wall, dizzy from such a revelation. Here, now, a little griffon who never believed in such whimsical things, was the to ever grant something magical prowess in a long time.
It was a few minutes before she collected herself.
"Why would anyone do that? You're nice, and beautiful."
Celestia looked away, staring at the single sunbeam sifting through the rubble.
"They were scared, your kind."
"Scared of what?"
"They feared that if the ponies knew their queen was still alive, they'd win the war."
"War? A-and other ponies?"
"These lands you step on did not always belong to the griffons. This city is Canterlot, my home and the former capital of Equestria. Griffons were jealous of pony prosperity, and the tensions between our countries ran high. War was imminent. I guess they won."
Camelot wasn't always a griffon city. Spriggan would love this history lesson.
"So there were others like you. That could use magic and...maybe fly?"
"Not all had my specific features. Only royalty and a special few had my wings and horns. For most, it's one or the other, and sometimes neither. But yes, there were others like me."
She lowered her head somberly. "I've been down here for centuries, perhaps millennia. My sister, my niece, my...student. The royalty of my kind, I don't know what to think of them. Perhaps they're still alive, more likely dead, or captive in other prisons. I could spend an eternity here and never know."
"How old are you?"
"Much older than any griffon in the world. Probably older than all their ages combined. I came from a time where the sun had to be raised and lowered."
"Why would the sun be lowered?"
That gave the mare pause.
"So that the night could be brought in."
"Night comes right after day, but the sun is still in the sky. To take it out, even temporarily, just sounds dangerous."
Celestia didn't speak for a few moments.
But finally, she broke her silence. "Little one, would you like to hear a story?"
"Mmmm, sure."
"A very many centuries ago, there was the moon. It shone brightly in the dark sky when the sun went down. My sister, Luna was in charge of raising and lowering this moon. However, an even longer time ago, she didn't do this."
Curiosity watched as Celestia put a remarkably strenuous effort into another glow in her horn, and the scene around her began to change.
The cub was in a castle. Dozens of wingless, armor-bound guard-ponies walked the halls. One of these guards seemed to stray from the path of the others.
Just as this guard walked out of sight, the scene shifted, and Curiosity was in front of a younger and far more beautiful Celestia, whom was setting a few items in a bag on her back.
"M'lady, will you require assistance for your endeavor?" A male voice inquired beyond Celestia's bedroom door.
Tia opened the door, smiling at a worrying guard. "I'm certain that Luna is fine. She's been acting...oddly as of late. I'll bring her back, I doubt the celebration will be the same without the guest of honor."
The mare walked over to an open window, spreading her glorious wings.
"Do not fear for me, I'll be back soon."
Curiosity bolted over to the mare, clinging tightly to her leg.
She did not notice her, and took off into the air without a problem.
The scene was an illusion, the cub knew that.
But it all felt so real .
It really felt like she was flying on her new friend, a fixed-up Came-Canterlot flashed below her.
Castles, towers, it was all there, in a place where ruins should have been.
It amazed her.
The fascinating and beautiful architecture soon transformed into a sea of trees, filled with creatures she'd never seen before. Birds of fire. Wolves made of wood. A strange chicken-reptile thing.
Curiosity and Celestia passed beyond them, and the flying mare settled at the entrance of an old, stone castle.
The griffon let go of her leg, walking alongside her as the princess walked into the castle.
The building was old, abandoned, with nothing but the overgrowth to give it company.
"Luna!?" Celestia called, surprising Curiosity.
At first, her response was silence. However, it was soon followed by tinkling laughter.
Another mare appeared.
She was younger, slightly smaller than Celestia, but she had wings AND a horn like her. Her flowing mane and tail dark, like her dark-blue coat. On her lank was a crescent shape she'd never seen before.
Celestia smiled. "Luna, come back to Canterlot. It's night, we're already running late."
"Night, yes. But the sun will not rise again. I won't let it."
Celestia stared at the mare in shock.
"Luna, what are you-"
"Did you really expect me to sit idly by while they all basked in your precious light?" Her tone was bitter and prideful.
"Luna! Snap out of it, Equestria cannot see their princesses like this."
Luna snarled. "There can only be one princess in Equestria! And that princess-" she reared up, "WILL BE ME!"
Curiosity cowered as the mare crashed down, breaking the balcony she stood upon.
Luna rose into the air, a white shape levitated into the sky, covering the sun, turning it black.
The cub gasped as a strange, magical darkness enveloped her. Her eyes thinned, her coat turned black, the feathers off her wings molted, and sharp teeth replaced themselves in her jaw.
Celestia herself seemed to falter a little.
"Luna, I will not fight you! You must lower the moon! It is your duty!"
Luna smiled. "Luna? I am... Nightmare Moon! I have but one royal duty now: to destroy you! And where do you think you're going?"
Smiling, the nightmare shot Celestia with a beam from her horn. The mare shrieked, and fell to the ground with a THUD.
Chills ran down Curiosity's spine. "Please, be okay," she whispered, as she'd forgotten the illusion's nature.
Celestia was still for a long time before, at last rising.
She was crying.
"Oh, dear sister. I am sorry, but you have given me no choice but to use these."
From her saddlebag, she pulled six gems.
They were magic, even without the tingle, Curiosity knew that.
And then the scene faded.
Curiosity gasped.
"What happened!?"
The chained mare groaned, "The restraints, I'm weary, child."
She was crying.
"W-will you tell me how it ends?"
"Of course."
"I loved my sister with all my heart. I loved her night and the wonders it brought, even if others shunned it. I'd planned a celebration for her to show her that she was loved. But it came too late, and I didn't see that Luna was...changing. Those gems were The Elements of Harmony. Honesty, Laughter, Generosity, Kindness, Loyalty, and most importantly, Magic. It was with great reluctance that I used them against my sister, my best friend. But I had to imprison her within her own creation."
"The moon."
"Yes. She was trapped within the moon, her spirit scattered within its confines. I took control of the night and my day. I was...alone for so long. Watching so many die for a thousand years. I'd...lost hope. And without my connection to those gems, those elements of harmony, I could not save Luna."
There was something to her tone. "I take it you found that will to live again soon after. Did you find someone else like you?"
Celestia smiled. "Luna came back."
"How?"
She chuckled, "That's a tale for another day, my little cub. I grow ever weary."
Celestia's light was fading, Curiosity hugged her head. "How will I get out?"
"You are small enough to fit through the bars without getting stuck. From there, it should be easy to find the staircase upward. But hold on, I have a single question."
"Of course."
Even with the fading light, Curiosity could see Celestia's tears, falling down her cheeks.
"Please, do you wish to visit me again?"
"I think it will be a long time before my class takes another field trip here..." It broke her heart, saying it.
"I'm asking if you want to see me again."
"...yes."
"I have a gift for you, then. The castle's magical items are still in my storage room, not yet looted by griffons who were too heavy to safely retrieve them. You are small, you could get to one. An amulet."
"What does it look like?
"There is a red gem in the center, the frame and chain is made of gold, there are inscriptions in the back. Read them, and you will be transported to the throne room of the castle."
Curiosity's jaw dropped. "For real!?"
Celestia laughed again. "Yes, for real."
"Thank you, Tia! No one's ever offered me something so...so AWESOME!"
She smiled warmly, shutting her eyes to reminisce about the past. "I knew someone like you a long time ago."
The smiles and laughter faded.
"D-did that all really happen?"
"I think you already know the answer."
Silence ensued.
"I'll see you again soon Celestia. I promise."
Curiosity squeezed through the cell bars, fleeing upstairs to search for her gift.
"Ready to go to sleep, Curie?"
Curiosity curled herself into a ball in her little bed. "Yeah, mom. I'm fine."
The larger griffin's compassionate look faded into serious gaze. "Please, Curie. Promise we won't have a repeat of today. If you get into another fight, you'll be suspended."
The cub brushed the swelled purple flesh around her eye. It still hurt. "He was only a first grader, mom. That bully didn't have the right to take his money."
Her mother sighed. "I know, but it isn't right to provoke a fight. Especially when he was twice your size. You could have gotten real hurt. If you get into another situation like that, just get an adult. Okay?"
The cub looked away from her. "I could say okay, but I wouldn't be able to look you in the eye, mother. I'm sorry."
Curiosity had always said this about other things. Like choking down a proper dinner, or that she would fly "today, today". Like being a normal cub.
Her mother sighed and started towards the door. "Why can't you just act like a griffin?" the cub heard her mutter as the shut the door.
Curie grabbed her pillow from under her head, pressed into her beak, and screamed, hot tears spilling from her eyes. She slammed it back in place, careful not to tear it. "Why can't you just accept me?" she whispered to the empty room.
For the next hour, Curie waited silently. Not daring to move or make a noise. Barely blinking for fear that her eyes would shut. After an eternity, she heard another being walk up the stairs, followed by the 'click' of a door sliding into place. A few more moments, and Curie knew her mother had fallen asleep.
Carefully, she peeled the covers off of her tiny body, and slinked down to the floor. She crept towards her dresser, which was empty, all except for the bottom drawer. She opened it up, and glimmering in a lone sunbeam from her window, was an amulet. A round, faceted pyrope gem held into the frame with a gold chain and frame.
Removing the amulet from its place, Curie bolted to her closet and grabbed a small knapsack.
She quietly creaked her door open, her empty bag in her claw. She quietly slithered through the hallway and down the staircase. One step with a loose board underneath the carpeting creaked loudly beneath her. Curiosity froze, listening to her mother stir only slightly from behind her shut door. Sighing with relief, she continued on her way down.
She crawled into the house's kitchen. Acting quickly and soundless, she stole away three dragon-fruits, a persimmon, and a bottle of water. As well as a canteen for herself, a pomegranate, and a flashlight. All supplies were quickly stuffed into her bag. She fled back up into her room with the filled knapsack, and donned her amulet.
Butterflies fluttered in her stomach. She was more than nervous, but at the same time, excited. Hungry for a new adventure.
She read the back of the amulet before clutching it to her chest. "From one to another..." Cold winds wrapped around her, and the bedroom scene began to fade.
"Another to one..."
She felt weightless, and to breathe was to struggle. She was in a void of blackness and silence.
"A mark of one's destiny-"
She shuddered, tears spilling from her eyes. The winds tore and whipped at her, but the light of the sun began to shine.
"Singled out alone, fulfilled."
Just as suddenly as they arrived, the winds dispersed. For a split second, Curiosity swore she'd bake under the arid sun.
And then she fell. Again.
Well, what would you expect? There was a giant hole in the floor of the throne room, where Celestia said the amulet would take her.
Anyway, Curiosity slammed into the ground of the dark, damp dungeon. Again.
Somehow, she managed to grab her bag of food just before it splattered onto the ground.
Flicking on her light, Curie realized that she'd landed just outside of Celestia's cell. She shone the light her way and squeezed through the gap between the bars. She aimed her light at the bedraggled mare, who'd renounced her shock for delight at the realization that her promise was kept. But glittering eyes switched swiftly into sadness.
The cub set her items down before running up and hugging Celestia's neck. "I'm so sorry, Curiosity. I didn't account the fall. I'm so sorry it hurt you."
"What?" No broken bones, no real bad bruising. Just her eye. "Oh, no. No, no, no. The eye thing...well. I'm not exactly the squeaky clean cub I know you want to believe I am." She guiltily turned her head away. "I...uh...I got into a fight at my school. But let me just say that it was in defense of another student!"
The filthy mare sighed, but smiled. "Lunch money issues?"
"Exactly. How would you know?"
"Equestria had a lot of little issues. A lot of them, your empire still has today. A fight..." Celestia shut her eyes, and a tear cut through the copious filth on her muzzle. "A fight was how the captain got his cutiemark. He was a remarkable thing. His sister was...remarkable."
Curiosity removed the water bottle. "Thirsty?"
Tia's dry tongue swept over her lips, "Very much so."
As she did the week before, she opened the bottle and held it for her friend to drink. The mare sighed and smiled as the cool liquid filled her. Her appetite awakened, and her stomach groaned loudly. Her gray face turned pink, and Curiosity giggled.
The cub nabbed the dragon fruit, and with strenuous effort, messily broke each one in half and presented the soft fruit to her friend. Who gratefully nibbled away at it.
"So long without food must build quite an appetite."
Celestia laughed with the cub, devouring the fruit like Twilight at a fast-food joint. Happy tears spilled from her eyes, and Curie watched her bony frame fill out just a slight bit. The fruits were gone within a span of four minutes, and Curiosity halved and gave the persimmon to her. This time, the trapped mare cherished every bite.
Curie also took her apple and munched on it. "Who wash hish shishter?" she asked, mouth full of the fruit.
"Don't talk with your mouth open, it isn't the most polite," despite the motherly wording, her tone made it obvious she was teasing.
Swallowing her food, Curie pointed out just how sloppy the mare was eating, and they both snickered.
"I said, who was his sister?"
Celestia shrunk, which almost seemed impossible. "A beautiful, kind, and powerful unicorn. I consider, considered, her more of a daughter than a student. Is it story time again?"
Curie squeaked and plopped herself down in front of the mare, excitement welling up in her tiny body, eager for another tale. "YES! Sorry, yes...please?"
Celestia smiled, but mournful tears spilled from her eyes. Her horn glittered with light, but not the white glow that lit up the cell so many days ago. Instead, a pink, six-pointed star danced above her magical appendage. Curie stared at it in awe, her mind screaming for more, but her mouth unable to speak.
Then the illusion shone.
